| International cricket fixtures involving representative teams from Hong Kong date back to 1866 when the first Interport match against Shanghai was played. Records from 1890 show Hong Kong playing matches against 'The Straights' and Ceylon. For a full chronology of important dates and events in Hong Kong cricket, visit our detailed History page. Hong Kong became an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council in 1969.
Hong Kong has a performed extremely well in recent years on the international cricket scene. As well as competing in the ICC Trophy since 1982 against other ICC Associate Members for the right to participate in the Cricket World Cup, Hong Kong has also played in the Asia Cup and the South East Asia Championships (a.k.a. Tuanku Ja'afar Cup) on a regular basis.
With its eighth place finish at the 1997 ICC Trophy tournament, Hong Kong attained a ranking of 17th in the world.
By reaching the final of the 2000 ACC Trophy Hong Kong qualified for the 2004 Asia Cup where they played Pakistan and Bangladesh. Also in 2004, Hong Kong played in the ACC Fast Track Countries Tournament which involved a series of 3-day matches (carrying First Class status) against other 'second-tier' countries in the Asia region.
Hong Kong reached the final of the ACC Trophy 2006 tournament in Malaysia and in doing so earned a place at the 2008 Asia Cup where they faced Pakistan and India. Hong Kong's experience at the Asia Cup was put to good use as they went on to beat UAE in the final of the ACC Trophy Elite 2008.
In 2007, Hong Kong played in the ICC World Cricket League Division 3, at Darwin, Australia, where they finished fifth. They were demoted to the ICC World Cricket League Division 4 which was played in Tanzania in October 2008. By reaching the final of that tournament, Hong Kong regained their position in the ICC World Cricket League Division 3 and they played in a tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in January 2009, where they finished fourth in the six team event to secure their place in Division 3. Hong Kong and China will jointly host the next ICC World Cricket League Division 3 tournament in January 2011.
At age group levels, Hong Kong participates in the Under-13, Under-15 and Under-19 Tuanku Ja'afar Cups, the Under-17 Asia Cup and in the Youth Asia Cup - an Under-19 event with the finalists qualifying for the Youth World Cup. In 2009, the Hong Kong Under-19 team won the ACC Under-19 Elite Cup 2009 played in Kuwait and, in doing so, they qualified for the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament played in Canada. A sixth place finish in that event secured them a place at the 2010 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, where they finished 14th in the 16 team competition (beating higher ranked teams Canada, USA and Afghanistan in the process).
The Hong Kong's Women's Cricket team played its first international match in Shanghai in 2003. Matches against international teams from China and Japan followed. In 2006 Hong Kong played in a World Cup Qualifying Tournament against Pakistan and played in the inaugural ACC Women's Cricket Tournament in Malaysia in 2007 and the ACC Under-19 Women's Championship in Thailand in 2008. The Hong Kong Women's team tasted their first international success in 2009 when they won the ACC Women's Twenty20 Championships 2009 played in Malaysia.
Hong Kong has also become famous for hosting the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes since 1992. |
